Ireland could lose pharma tax to US after Trump accusations, experts warn

Pfizer’s plant in Ringaskiddy, Co Cork; it is one of many US companies in the country. Picture: Dan Linehan

US pharmaceutical companies based in Ireland are more likely to shift profits back to the US than close manufacturing plants after Donald Trump accused Ireland of stealing American tax and jobs, experts say.

Aidan Regan, a professor of political economy at the University College Dublin, said the US president was right to call out the trade imbalance created by US pharmaceutical companies in Ireland, arguing the warning signs have been there for years.